Computer Won't Recognize Ethernet Card Correctly

[Ice]

In short, in the Ethernet card is connected to the motherboard. I'm running an old windows xp system. The ethernet controller appears under other devices, but the driver is unknown. I have located the appropriate driver from dell's website, and it installs fine... at least it says it does. I can't get the controller to function properly and allow me to contact to the internet. I tried uninstalling its driver, but all it does is prompt me to install a new one via searching my computer or manually directing it to the correct location. This ALWAYS fails. If I uninstall, then manually click on the file I got from dell's website, it will install fine, but the damn thing still doesn't work.

I need help.

[Lemur]

Can it ping anything from the command line?

[Tellos Athenaios]

Presumably not (I assume so, since the hardware doesn't show up under its proper category). I would first try extracting contents from the DELL installer. Maybe the thing is trying to install the wrong driver, but you can work around this if you can extract the contents. Windows NT drivers are mostly a SYS and an INF file combination (though some contain additional firmware and stuff), so you'd point the find driver wizard to the XP version of those (i.e. the directory in which they are located once you've extracted the contents of the installer) and cross fingers.

Another option is trying drivers from an alternative source, DELL doesn't make its hardware itself so maybe the manufacturer of the hardware has more up to date drivers or older ones (if XP is no longer supported). You can use the various driver info panels (together with Google) to figure out what exact piece of kit this ethernet controller is, alternatively it might be listed if you run ipconfig /a at a cmd prompt.

[Lemur]

Another way to identify the make and chipset of the ethernet card would be to download and run this.

[Ice]

Thanks for the help, guys.

I should mention that it's actually an ethernet controller and not card as it is integrated into the motherboard...I'm not sure if that matters. Furthermore, I believe I used this driver before and it has worked ok.

Tellos

Since dos won't let me copy and paste here is what came up:

Host name: XXXXXX
Primary Dns Suffix: Blank
Node Type: Unknown
Ip Routing Enabled: No
Win Proxy Enabled: No

It then lists perfectly my current wireless card that I'm connecting to the internet with.

It seems to have detected my wireless card, but not my Ethernet controller. If you are wondering why I don't want to use wireless, it's because my connection is bad where I am and I am constantly losing it. I'm trying to obtained a wired one.

Lemur:

This is what I received when I ran Belarc Advisor:

Network Drives
None discovered

Controllers
Standard floppy disk controller
Intel(R) 82801FB/FBM Ultra ATA Storage Controllers - 266F
Intel(R) 82801FR SATA AHCI Controller
Primary IDE Channel [Controller]

Bus Adapters
Intel(R) 82801FB/FBM USB Universal Host Controller - 2658
Intel(R) 82801FB/FBM USB Universal Host Controller - 2659
Intel(R) 82801FB/FBM USB Universal Host Controller - 265A
Intel(R) 82801FB/FBM USB Universal Host Controller - 265B
Intel(R) 82801FB/FBM USB2 Enhanced Host Controller - 265C

Communications new – connection speed & status
Conexant D850 56K V.9x DFVc Modem


1394 Net Adapter
↑ Belkin Basic Wireless USB Adapter
primary Auto IP Address: 192.168.1.4 / 24
Gateway: 192.168.1.1
Dhcp Server: 192.168.1.1
Physical Address: 94:44:52:75:C9:8E
Cisco Systems VPN Adapter

Networking Dns Server: 192.168.1.1
OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Host Controller

Other Devices

ATITool Driver
HID-compliant consumer control device
HID-compliant device
Logitech USB Cordless iTouch Keys
USB Human Interface Device
HID Keyboard Device
HID-compliant mouse
USB Composite Device
USB Root Hub (5x)

I excluded a lot of unnecessary information. By the way, the program did indentify a number of security risks and patches that I should install which is neat.

[Tellos Athenaios]

Your output doesn't list any Ethernet devices, it actually lists a modem though.

[Ice]

Your output doesn't list any Ethernet devices, it actually lists a modem though.

I know. I also have a floppy drive... that's how old this thing is. When I look under hardware in my system, the card is listed, but there is a yellow mark next to it and it is listed under "other".

Any more suggestions? This is driving my crazy.

[Tellos Athenaios]

Yeah but if it is a modem then it is supposed to be used for dial up networking, the cable which plugs in to it “looks” similar to an ethernet cable but it is not an ethernet cable. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Registered_jack Which is only part 1, because part 2 is that dial up networking from behind a router is unlikely to work and part 3 is that dial up networking is unlikely to be covered by customer support of your ISP (and you will need some customer support to get it to work, for one thing you need to authenticate with the ISP).

EDIT: So I guess it is going to be significantly easier to get the wireless working reliably. If your router is simply a few floors of concrete away and you just want a stable connection, a wireless repeater might be what you're after.

[Ice]

Yeah but if it is a modem then it is supposed to be used for dial up networking, the cable which plugs in to it “looks” similar to an ethernet cable but it is not an ethernet cable. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Registered_jack Which is only part 1, because part 2 is that dial up networking from behind a router is unlikely to work and part 3 is that dial up networking is unlikely to be covered by customer support of your ISP (and you will need some customer support to get it to work, for one thing you need to authenticate with the ISP).

EDIT: So I guess it is going to be significantly easier to get the wireless working reliably. If your router is simply a few floors of concrete away and you just want a stable connection, a wireless repeater might be what you're after.

I'm not trying to connect via the modem. This computer has an ethernet jack (I've previous been hardwired to my router via this jack) AND a phone jack for the modem. The modem is obsolete and has not been used in years.

[Ice]

This is what I'm talking about:

[Tellos Athenaios]

Ah, I see: the device output you listed earlier confused me, since it didn't list any ethernet devices. What you can do though is go to right click the Ethernet thing and if memory serves select Properties/Details (whatever) which in turn should popup a hardware info screen. Then try if you can find hardware vendor/ ID strings (and these might well be a series of hexadecimal values) in it and ask Google for help with XP drivers.

If you're having trouble with that condensed blurb, here's a little how to that does basically the same thing (for PCI cards, but same difference really): http://www.instantfundas.com/2008/06...n-devices.html

[Ice]

You are awesome! Thank you so much!

I followed the website's instructions and found my card was this: Broadcom NetExtreme Gigabit Ethernet

A quick google search directed me to a driver released in March. I downloaded the driver and attempted to install it... success!

Thanks again!